


All Of Us Together

by eternitywrites



Series: Tumblr DMMd Fic Requests [4]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Baby, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, M/M, Parenthood, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 05:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1539578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternitywrites/pseuds/eternitywrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba and Noiz make another big leap in their life together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Of Us Together

**Author's Note:**

> Second to last fic request I received who knows how many months ago. For [anon who wanted the two of them as parents](http://eternityswritingstuff.tumblr.com/post/71941833094/hihi-may-i-please-request-fic-of-noiz-and-aoba-as).
> 
> Dramatical Murder is set far enough in the future where you can get a baby with both parents' set of genes even if the parents can't have the baby themselves, right? Let's just assume that. I mean, if Toue can make weird, super-powered test-tube babies from scratch...*shrugs*

“We’ll be good parents, right?”

Aoba cracked an eye open and looked at Noiz. His husband was wide awake, staring at the ceiling with a hand behind his head. Despite his blank expression, the fact that this was the fourth time in two days he had asked such a question pointed toward nervousness.

Aoba didn’t blame him.

“I’d like to think so,” said Aoba, struggling to sound alert. He wanted to banish Noiz’s worries, but man, was he sleepy.

“I’ve been reading up on things on the internet. Articles and stuff.” Noiz spoke slowly, the product of deep thinking even as words fell out of his mouth. “A lot of them had this message…like people almost always end up parenting much the same way their parents did. Something like that.”

It took a long moment for the underlying meaning to sink into Aoba’s head. When it did it was like icy water to his face. Before he even realized it he had flung himself over Noiz, legs straddling his waist and hands planted on each side of his head.

“No.” It was all Aoba could say. “Noiz, I — _no.”_

Noiz blinked up at him, then his slight shock melted into understanding and he let out a breath. “Sorry. Should have elaborated. I didn’t mean we’re going to end up locking our kid in a room, Aoba. Nothing anywhere near that is going to happen. I’d gladly die first.”

“Geez! You got me there for a second.” Aoba’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Of course it’s not going to happen. Never. I don’t know why I thought you’d even contemplate the possibility of one of us doing something so awful to our own child.”

“Neither do I.” Noiz looked somewhat affronted. “Guess I should have tried talking to you while you were actually awake and thinking straight.”

“I am awake!”

“You were snoring not even a minute ago. Jumping from zero to one-hundred the way you did can’t be good for your health.”

Aoba flicked Noiz’s forehead with forefinger and thumb in retaliation. Noiz winced and snickered.

“In any case,” said Aoba sternly, “we’re not doomed to repeat what our parents did, Noiz. Whatever articles you’ve been reading are full of crap.”

He made to get off of him, but Noiz wrapped his arms around Aoba’s waist before he could swing his leg back to his side of the bed.

“Stay,” said Noiz, tightening his grip so that Aoba had no choice but to lay against him. “You know how much I like this position.”

Aoba snorted, but redness blossomed in his face all the same. “I wasn’t trying to get you worked up, you know.”

Still, he pressed his bare chest to Noiz’s, who hummed in satisfaction and loosened his grip a little. The contact was comforting rather than provocative. Noiz was warm.

“I wasn’t thinking about my years alone in my bedroom,” Noiz continued as soon as Aoba settled himself comfortably on top of him. “At least, not only about it. I was mostly referring to a lot of other weird, annoying stuff they insisted my brother and I do. I had so many tutors running me through so much pointless bullshit. How to hold utensils the right way, posture, proper speech, music I didn’t care about…I can play the violin pretty well if I felt like it. I haven’t touched one in years, though.”

“Really?” An image of Noiz in a black, coat-tailed suit came to mind, his eyes closed in dignified concentration as he dragged a bow over the strings of a polished violin under a theatrical spotlight. Aoba laughed out loud.

“Don’t believe me?”

“I would have never guessed,” Aoba admitted. “At least, not a violin. Maybe the drums. Or a MIDI controller. Or turntables! Yeah, I can totally see you spinning hot tracks and making the club rock on a crowded weekend night.”

Now it was Noiz’s turn to chuckle. “I’ll keep that in mind if this whole businessman gig doesn’t work out for us in the long run.”

His fingers traveled up Aoba’s spine, drawing lazy patterns into his skin until they wove themselves in Aoba’s hair. Aoba followed the gentle pressure of his hand and tucked his head into the curve of Noiz’s neck.

“I was talking with Theo at lunch yesterday and he told me Mom and Dad loved drilling the same useless lessons I was given into him, too,” said Noiz. “And with him they always tried to get him to look and act a particular way. He couldn’t be in public unless he wore certain sets of clothes or he had to say this or that in order to impress house guests. And I remember, when I was really small, how my parents would turn away some of the friends my brother tried to bring home to play with. They would say he was too busy that day, but later on at night they’d tell him it’d ruin our image if others saw him hanging around kinds with such lowly backgrounds.”

Aoba felt Noiz’s chest rise and fall beneath him in a soft sigh. “It’s always about appearances when it comes to those two jackasses. So when a bunch of articles say I should look to my own parents as an example and see which of their method work best…as far as I’m concerned I don’t have any examples to go off of. They weren’t raising children, they were grooming another generation of perfect faces for the company by trying to control my brother’s every step and pretending I didn’t exist until my condition no longer made me an embarrassment to the family name. One way or another.”

Noiz spoke in that careless way of his, tone laced with an undercurrent of irritation that cropped up whenever he spoke of his parents. But that was it. Aoba knew Noiz didn’t like to waste time and energy getting upset over them. He considered them little more than nuisances, especially now that they were retired, and had made it clear that Aoba should ignore them and their opinions. But Aoba’s heart still stuttered painfully as he listened, and he found himself kissing slowly along Noiz’s neck. He wanted to do what he could to help soothe the wounds Noiz had gained from his childhood, even if they were so old and faded over they no longer bothered him that much.

“Noiz,” said Aoba at last. “If you don’t have examples to learn from, that’s completely okay. Even if we both had the best parents in the world, we’re still gonna mess up from time to time while we raise our child. We’ll learn together as we go along. Hell, we’re bound to get some things right over the years.”

“Yeah.” Noiz’s lips brushed against Aoba’s forehead. “Yeah. We will. And we’ll love our kid no matter what.”

Aoba grinned. “Of course!”

“And we’ll always be there for our kid. We’ll do better than our parents could ever dream of doing in that regard.”

“Ah.” Aoba’s smile slipped off his face when he looked up at Noiz, who met his gaze fearlessly. This time Aoba was certain he caught the correct meaning behind his words. It was an unflinching callback to one of their most uncomfortable arguments to date.

“I…still can’t bring myself to hold any kind of a grudge against them, Noiz,” said Aoba, dropping his gaze. “My parents are good people. From what I can remember.”

“Never said that you should,” Noiz replied, giving Aoba’s forehead another kiss. “But I’m not going to cut them any slack if we ever meet face-to-face.”

“Just be polite about it, okay?”

“Anything for you.”

The tenseness in Aoba’s body evaporated. Even if they didn’t agree on some points, he trusted Noiz’s word. “But you’re not wrong. Our child will never feel lonely.”

“Not if we can help it.” Noiz smiled. “Our family’s going to be pretty great, isn’t it?”

“It is!” Aoba wrapped himself around Noiz, hugging him fiercely. He was worried and overwhelmed by the future, sure, but he could not think of a single second’s worth of regret entering his thoughts ever since making the decision to have a baby with Noiz.

“And while we’re waiting…” Noiz’s hands slid back down Aoba’s spine. “Maybe we should put the last of our alone time to some good use. What do you say?”

“Noiz, it’s past two in the morning…”

“So?”

Aoba lifted his head and raised his eyebrows at him. “You have work tomorrow.”

_“So?”_

Aoba uttered a sharp squawk when Noiz’s hands found their way to his ass and squeezed. “Goddammit!”

“Yes or no? Just tell me, Aoba.” Noiz laughed, but he gave Aoba’s rear a soft, apologetic stroke.

A great sigh left Aoba’s lips as he sat up and brushed his hair off his shoulders. Instead of scooting off of Noiz, he shifted forward until he was sitting directly on Noiz’s hips. His skin already burned with the beginnings of a heavy flush.

“This is promising,” Noiz murmured, staring up at him from under lowered eyelashes. “But you still haven’t said anything one way or the other.”

His hands couldn’t seem to keep still, now. They traced tingling paths along Aoba’s waist, over his stomach, up his chest. Aoba shivered and licked his lips before answering him.

_“Ja, du kleiner Perverser.”_

Quick as ever, Noiz flipped their positions. Aoba’s yelp turned into an exasperated laugh when his back made contact with the mattress and Noiz’s familiar, welcome weight pressed into him.

“Hm, I would say we could make this quick, but…” Noiz glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. “Nah.”

“I’ll just make the coffee extra strong in the morning.”

There was no point in keeping up the pretense of annoyance. Aoba eagerly opened his arms and Noiz didn’t hesitate to lower himself into the embrace. Lust wasn’t the first thing to overwhelm him when their lips met. It was excitement and joy flooding through his system in a giddy concoction that kept him smiling and giggling even as Noiz’s tongue and mouth moved to his throat. He soon felt the rumble of Noiz’s quiet laughter join his, and Aoba knew then that this was a celebration.

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe it.”

Noiz automatically held his handkerchief out to Aoba when he heard the tremor in Aoba’s voice. He had been teary-eyed off and on ever since they walked out of the hospital. Not that Noiz considered himself in a better state. He was shaky, completely wired up, and every time he looked down into the bassinet and met his son’s moody expression his heart clenched tight enough to hurt.

“Otto, you’re perfect.” Aoba sniffed and rubbed the handkerchief at the corners of his eyes. “Adorable, wonderful, amazing. I - I just can’t believe it. You’re our son.”

Noiz slung an arm around Aoba’s shoulders, pulled him close, and fluttered a kiss against his temple, keeping his eyes on his son all the while. Their son…it was hard to wrap his mind around it, that he and Aoba were now the guardians of something so fragile and precious.

“And,” Aoba’s sudden laugh trembled in the air, “and you already look kind of like your Vati. That’s so cute.”

“Really?” Noiz tilted his head to the side, squinting curiously at Otto as if that would help to bring out his details. Above all else, he was very pink and fleshy. It was difficult to tell who he looked like the most, though Noiz thought his wispy strands of blue hair pointed to signs that he had a lot of Aoba in him.

Aoba tucked Noiz’s handkerchief in his pocket before playfully digging his elbow into Noiz’s side. “He didn’t get that sourpuss face from my set of genes, that’s for sure.”

“Oh.” Noiz was quiet for a moment. There was no doubt about it. Otto had a serious, borderline sullen air about him. “Is that alright?”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s alright! It’s better than alright.” Aoba slid away from Noiz’s embrace and scooped Otto from his bassinet, who wriggled only momentarily before gurgling and snuggling into Aoba’s hold. “Now I have two sweet, grumpy boys in my life. I’d say that’s pretty great, really.”

Aoba began to rock Otto gently in his arms, eyes still a little over-bright but his smile beaming. Witnessing the two of them together swept all the air from Noiz’s lungs. His husband was holding their son. He had a family. A real, small, beautiful family. The realization filled him with such fierce devotion toward them he felt his face grow hot and his eyes sting.

“Noiz?”

He took a slow, steadying breath. Then he stepped over to them and placed a careful kiss on Otto’s forehead before straightening up and kissing Aoba softly on the mouth.

“Ah…” Aoba’s dreamy sigh when they broke apart kept Noiz close, Otto fitted cozily between them.

“He might have inherited my expressions, but he’ll definitely be wearing them with your fat apple cheeks, so I guess that evens everything out.”

“Fat apple — !” Aoba went pink almost at once. “All that intense buildup just to make fun of my face? You jerk, I should have expected nothing less outta you.”

“Never let your guard down, mister.”

To keep Aoba from grumbling too loudly, he kissed him again on both cheeks (which really were quite round and _God_ did he adore them), lowered his head to give Otto another peck, and hugged them to his chest.

“I can’t believe it, either,” Noiz confessed in a quieter tone. “Watching you hold our child, having the two of you with me…Aoba, I’m so happy.”

“Good.” Aoba nudged his head against Noiz’s. “Vati deserves to be happy. Doesn’t he, Otto?”

Otto made another small, unintelligible sound in reply.

“See? He’s totally backing me up.”

Noiz wanted to respond with more teasing, but that was hard to do when his throat felt a little too tight. A weak laugh was all he could manage. He would cherish this happiness he had, against all odds, managed to find. Cherish it and do the best he could to give it back a million-fold to the ones in his arms.

 

* * *

 

The clock on the microwave had the gall show it wasn’t even five in the morning, yet. Aoba was tempted to grab something heavy and smash the damn thing with it, a desire he figured had much to do with the three or so hours of restless sleep he had barely managed to catch.

Thankfully, the baby in his arms prevented him from going on a hunt for good bludgeoning objects. Otto was currently stirring up a hungry fuss while Aoba prepared a bottle for him. It was getting easier to do things one-handed. Aoba would have been kind of proud of his growing skills had he not been so goddamn exhausted.

“Please keep it down for Papa,” said Aoba distractedly as he jiggled a wailing Otto up and down in the crook of his elbow while screwing the cap onto the bottle of formula with his free hand. “Or do it for Vati, at least. Come on, baby, Vati has to sleep so he can be well-rested for wor — ”

“Too late.”

The last of Aoba’s energy reserves fled from his body as Noiz shuffled into the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, followed closely by Ren and a few beeping Usagimodoki.

“Good morning, Aoba.”

“Morning! Good morning!”

_“Guten Morgen, Schöner.”_

“What’s so good about it?” Aoba muttered, but he accepted Noiz’s kiss as he always did whenever they woke up and turned around so that he could kiss Otto, too.

_“Morgen, Schatz.”_

For a greeting, Otto cried even harder and struck out with both feet, smacking Noiz right in the jaw. Aoba almost laughed.

“Just like his papa,” said Noiz as he rubbed the spot where he had been hit, but not without a note of affection. “So _neither_ of you are very happy today.”

“Seems like it, Captain Obvious.” Aoba went back to preparing Otto’s breakfast. “But I’m about to calm this one down. He’ll be quiet in a second. Go back to sleep, Noiz.”

“Naaaa— ” Noiz’s drawl of dissent became an obnoxious yawn that had Aoba gritting his teeth. “I think I’ll make some coffee. Want a cup?”

“What I want is for you to go to bed,” said Aoba tartly. “You don’t have to be anywhere for, like, five more hours! Why should we both lose sleep? There you go, Otto, nice and easy…”

He slipped the rubber nipple into his son’s mouth, whose sobs vanished like magic at the prospect of food. Aoba sighed as Otto sucked contentedly on his bottle. He didn’t think he would ever tire of feeding his son.

Catching Noiz’s gaze pulled him out of his parental bliss. He was giving him shifty side-eyed glances while he fiddled with the coffee maker that had Aoba suspicious in an instant.

“What?” he asked. “What is it?”

“Well.” Noiz opened the cabinets above him and took out a mug. “I don’t actually have to be anywhere at any time today. Or tomorrow, for that matter.”

Blood pounded hotly in Aoba’s head, thrashing against his temples. “Are you fu…frea…are you serious right now?”

“Yes.” Noiz met his glare so coolly that the wrath he had felt boiling over in his chest was snuffed out like a weak candle flame in the wind. “Let’s sit down, Aoba. We have to talk about this.”

Noiz went around the island to the kitchen table and pulled out the chairs. He sat down in one and looked at Aoba expectantly.

“Alright.” Aoba didn’t know what else to say. He readjusted his grip on Otto and took the seat next to Noiz, tense and wary.

“The circles under your eyes are so dark you look like you’ve been punched,” Noiz began.

“Thanks,” said Aoba, voice flat. Though Noiz mentioning his eyes made him painfully aware of just how raw they were.

“When you’re done feeding Otto, give him to me. I’ll look after him while you sleep, alright?”

“But…but I — ” Aoba didn’t know why he was even bothering to argue. Maybe running on empty for as long as he had been was finally taking a toll. “I’m fine, Noiz! Okay, sure, I’m tired, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. You don’t need to call in today. It’s too daaa…darn late to call in today!”

“I called in yesterday evening. After I came home from work and spent about ten minutes trying to wake you up from your nap.”

“Eh, really?” It was probably not the best thing he could have said to strengthen his case, but Aoba had no recollection of ever doing more than closing his eyes for a bit on the couch before Noiz had sneaked into the apartment with catlike quietness.

“You were asleep for fifteen minutes altogether.” That was Ren, who had taken perch on the upper tier of the island. He had a giggling rabbit cube trapped under a paw. “And failed to wake up when I attempted to rouse you after the first five minutes as you had instructed. Usagimodoki alerted Noiz and we stood watch over Otto until he came home.”

“We played with the baby,” said the rabbit cube. “He tried to eat one of us!”

“I told you guys not to fly too close to him,” said Noiz.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” asked Aoba, somewhat stunned at how out of it he had been last evening. Then Otto pushed at his bottle with a grumble and Aoba’s attention snapped right back to him. “Oh, are you done, baby? Here…”

Aoba set the empty bottle on the table and shifted Otto over his shoulder, patting his back with a gentle hand.

“I would have let it go if you had gotten a decent night’s sleep for once.” Noiz reached over and stroked the top of Otto’s head before trailing his fingers down the side of Aoba’s face with just as much care, his expression soft. “But every time I woke up you were either already in the nursery or waiting for the baby monitor to go off.”

“I wasn’t _waiting_ , I was just — ” Aoba dropped his gaze. “Otto’s fussy at night, you know that. And it’s like I said, we shouldn’t both lose sleep. I’m the one staying home for the time being, so…”

He trailed off when Noiz narrowed his eyes in displeasure.

“Tomorrow,” said Noiz, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest, “when you’re no longer dead on your feet, we’ll work out a better schedule between the two of us. Just to let you know, Felix already gave me the okay to take an extra day off during the week until we’re settled.”

“But you just got off of parental leave! Is it really okay to — aw, _shit…”_

Aoba shuddered and screwed his eyes shut. It was one thing to have Otto belch loud and wetly so close to his ear, but the warm sliminess spilling on his shoulder was on a whole different level of nasty. The worst part was that the collar of his old nightshirt was too wide and loose for a decent cover. Otto’s spat up milk managed to miss his clothing entirely and now dripped down his bare skin underneath the shirt.

His eyes snapped open when he heard a familiar click. Noiz was grinning, an Usagimodoki in his hand and aimed directly at Aoba.

“You dick! You’re supposed to hand me a towel, not take a fucking picture!”

“I’m going to frame this and put it on my work desk,” said Noiz, but he got up to retrieve the hand towel hanging off the oven handle.

“Don’t even think about it, kid. Oh, baby, how could you?” With a sigh of mock despair, Aoba held Otto up and took a good look at him. His face definitely needed to be cleaned, but he was cooing in contentment. It wouldn’t be long before his full tummy sent him to sleep. Hopefully a lengthy, quiet one.

“An infant’s digestive system takes time to fully develop,” said Ren. “Spitting up is fairly normal for a baby, but should the force and the amount of regurgitation increase it may be a sign of overfeeding.”

“Yes, yes, I’m aware of that.” Aoba tried not to sound too weary.

Several rabbit cubes circled around him, squeaking in amusement as they threw decidedly less helpful comments at him. “P! P! P! Otto threw up! That’s gross, that’s super gross! Aoba’s covered in baby puke!”

“Knock it off, Usagimodoki.” Noiz came back to the table, the hand towel in one hand and a wad of paper towels in the other. He gave the hand towel, damp with sink water, to Aoba and went behind him so that he could wipe up the mess Otto had left.

“Appreciate it.” Aoba gingerly dabbed at Otto’s chin and mouth, who squirmed around in protest of the cold, scratchy cloth against his sensitive skin. “Stay still, Otto, this will only take a second…”

“He got some in your hair, too,” said Noiz. “You’re gonna need a shower after this. And for the record, anything that keeps you and our son happy and healthy is okay by me.”

“What?” It took Aoba a moment to remember where they had left off on their conversation. “Ah, right.” He worried his bottom lip. “I don’t know, isn’t a whole day each week a little too excessive? Not that I don’t want you here, but…how about coming home earlier in the day? Would that be alright?

“That’s not a bad alternative.” Noiz stroked the curve of Aoba’s neck with a thumb. “But let’s save the discussion for tomorrow. Rest now, Aoba. You deserve a break.”

Aoba hummed and leaned in to his touch, the tangle of anxiousness that had taken up residence inside of him for the past couple of weeks finally coming undone.

When Otto was nice and clean again Aoba set the towel down on the table and kissed his soft face. Otto’s eyelids were fluttering, and his heavy yawn made Aoba smile. He felt Noiz’s lips brush his vomit-free shoulder, and for a while it was so peacefully quiet that no amount of exhaustion in the world could have put a dent in the joy Aoba felt just by being with his husband and child. Then Noiz spoke up.

“That was three times you cussed in front of Otto, by the way. You know the drill.”

He pointed at the mason jar in the middle of the table. The bottom of it was filled with a mix of Japanese and European currency, almost all of it from Aoba’s wallet.

“Don’t look at me like that,” said Noiz, smirking when Aoba twisted his head up and glared at him. “You’re the one who started it. I just enforce the rules.”

“You little — ! Noiz, I’m going to strangle you one day.”

Noiz’s tone dipped very low. “I look forward to it.”

Heat rushed right into Aoba’s face. He stood up so fast that Noiz had to take a quick step back to avoid bashing his head against Aoba’s.

“Otto, can you do Papa a big favor?” Aoba gave him one last kiss on the cheek before passing him off to Noiz, who still had that gloating smile plastered on his face. “When Vati feeds you the next time you’re hungry, please spit up all over his face when he least expects it. And make sure Ren gets a good angle so he can take pictures, okay? That would make Papa very happy.”

“But even if that does end up happening you’ll still need to put three euros in the jar.”

“I…!” Aoba pressed his lips together and sucked in a deep breath through his nose before continuing. “…am going to take a shower and go to bed. Wake me up if —”

_“Aoba.”_

“…if something you really, honestly can’t handle on your own crops up.”

“Sure thing.”

Aoba stepped in and gave Noiz a quick peck on the lips. “You might not be the youngest in this family anymore but you will always be the brattiest. You brat. Ren, look after these troublemakers for me, will you?”

“Understood, Aoba.”

After letting Noiz give him a reciprocating kiss goodbye, he walked out of the kitchen. He paused in the hall, however, when Noiz spoke up in a theatrical whisper that was clearly meant to be overheard.

“Don’t worry, Otto. Papa only gets cranky like that when he doesn’t take enough naps. So you should listen to us when we say it’s nap time. That way, you don’t turn into a mean old man when you're barely in your thirties.”

Aoba doubled back and stuck his head around the corner, prepared to unleash both barrels, but the sight that greeted him killed any irritation he had. There was Noiz, grinning back at him in a daring sort of way with Otto tucked safely in the crook of his neck while Ren and the Usagimodoki chased each other playfully across the island. His family, all smiling and happy.

It was one of the greatest things he had ever seen in his life.

So he decided to take the high road with his retort, because he certainly no longer had the heart to chew Noiz out for calling him old. It was okay to let things slide, sometimes.

“Love you guys,” said Aoba, making sure his tone was extra sweet. “Be good.”

“Uh.” Noiz blinked, clearly a bit surprised. His smile swiftly became something more tender. “Love you, too. Sleep well.”

Aoba blew them a kiss and went back down the hall. He no longer minded the throb of exhaustion beating in his head, thrown up formula and drool making his shirt stick to his back, the fact that Noiz had every intention of proudly displaying the most unflattering photo possible of him and Otto to his entire office, and being short three euros because he had lost control of his big mouth. They were all just little details in a life that was shaping up to be better than he had ever imagined for himself. When all was said and done, he wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.

 

* * *

 

A late Saturday morning was what really kicked things off.

Noiz timed his sidelong glances at Aoba carefully. They were sitting at the kitchen table, finishing up their breakfast of waffles and orange juice while Noiz scrolled through his Coil for theater listings of a movie Aoba had been talking about wanting to watch later in the evening. Every time Noiz pretended to have his full concentration on his screens, Aoba would stare at him for a long moment before looking down at his plate with feigned interest. His jaw kept flexing as though he was physically trying to hold words back, and there was a lovely pink tinge to his face. Whatever was on his mind was probably serious, but the blush indicated it wasn’t the grim kind of serious.

After a few minutes of letting him gather his thoughts, Noiz decided to finally break the silence by meeting his gaze full on when Aoba tried to sneak another peek at him. Aoba spluttered and nearly dropped his fork.

“So,” said Noiz, grabbing the hand that Aoba was gesturing helplessly with, “ready to talk?”

“I, um, well…” Aoba was surprisingly quick to thread his fingers between Noiz’s. “It’s just, ah…”

It had been awhile since Noiz had seen Aoba so flustered. “Wow, you’re red. Would you like me to pour you some water before you start?”

Aoba kicked his leg lightly under the table. “I’m _fine,”_ he said, his voice growing stronger. “Uh, I was just wonder how you felt about…children.”

Oh.

Noiz looked down at their hands then back to Aoba. It was obvious where Aoba was trying to go with such a subject. It was one Noiz had been considering off and on for the past few months, himself. He just never thought Aoba would be the one to bring it up in such an abrupt manner.

“You mean in general?”

“S-sure?”

“I don’t mind children,” said Noiz softly. He brought his other hand up and clasped Aoba’s in both of his, feeling something incredible swell inside his chest. “I kind of like them, really. Why do you ask?”

Aoba’s eyes were very wide, excitement and apprehension stirring in them. “That’s great!” His voice was pitched just a tad too high. “I mean, I don’t have much experience with them, myself, but I wouldn’t say no to more, you know?”

"Yeah. That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“And I was talking with Granny last evening while you were at work. Remember what she told us when you asked her to take me to Germany the first time? That she was a little sad she wouldn’t have any great-grandchildren?”

“Hard to forget.” Noiz scooted his chair closer to Aoba’s and began laying kisses near his temple. To calm him down, to calm himself down. Aoba’s hand shook slightly in his.

“Well, that’s not true, right? There are options out there. It’s not impossible for her to one day have some.”

“That would depend on us, though, wouldn’t it?”

Noiz swallowed and pulled back to look at Aoba properly, waiting for his answer.

“Just to let you know,” Aoba began quickly, “this isn’t something that just popped into my head last night. The idea's been stuck in my head for months. We’ve been together for awhile now and it…it feels _right_ , I guess. I keep doing stuff like looking up cradles on shopping sites and searching for nice baby names and mentally redesigning the guest room.”

“Grandma has that room sometimes, though,” Noiz murmured. He brought Aoba’s hand up to his lips. “We could always redo my study. I don’t use it all that often. The desk in our bedroom should be enough for me if I have leftover work to finish.”

“And another thing! There’s no way this has to happen immediately. This is one of those down-the-line things. Someday, eventually. There’s no need to rush. Or agree, if in the end you decide you’re not comfortable with…with raising a child with me. That’s totally fine. No pressure.”

“But it’s good to decide these things early, don’t you think?” Noiz began kissing Aoba’s fingers, mouth tracing over the ring on his finger again and again.

“Yeah, that’s true.” Aoba’s laugh sounded unsteady. “So, is this a yes? Want to try our luck at raising a baby?”

Noiz nodded. When he was finally sure he could speak, he lifted his head from Aoba’s hand. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Under the fireworks that night you said you’d make so many memories with me I’d have trouble remembering them all. You’re definitely living up to that promise. You outdo yourself, sometimes.”

“Geez, nothing’s even really _happened_ yet and we’re both already getting sappy!” Aoba swiped a hand across his watering eyes, but he was grinning, too. “Anyway, how about we skip the movies tonight?”

“Good idea. We have lots of pre-planning to do.”

Noiz pulled Aoba into his lap and hugged him tight, burying his face in Aoba’s long hair.

“Hey, watch it! We almost upended the table!”

“But it’s still standing, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Not yet, at any rate. Soon there would be piles of things to worry about, but right now they didn’t matter. The two of them were going to have a child. He didn’t think his world could get any brighter, any happier than that. And the sheer strength of Aoba’s returning embrace made Noiz certain that Aoba felt the same way.

**Author's Note:**

> “Ja, du kleiner Perverser.” - Yes, you little pervert. 
> 
> “Guten Morgen, Schöner.” - Good morning, gorgeous/beautiful.
> 
> “Morgen, Schatz.” - 'Morning, darling/treasure/dear (however you wanna translate it...).
> 
> When it comes to Otto [Japanese middle name] Seragaki I like to imagine him as a Noiz colorswapped with Aoba's colors. And with an expression like a Swadloon, basically. I also like to imagine Aoba and Noiz getting married pretty early on in their relationship, like three to six-ish years later at the very most, and then having a baby soon afterward. So yeah, Aoba's in his early thirties and Noiz is just brushing past the other side of his twenties in this story.
> 
> And for those of you who haven't read it yet, Noiz's lines about fireworks and memories is from [his summer side story](http://smilingchipmunk.tumblr.com/post/62905527199/noizs-summer-side-story). Please read it as it is everything to me.


End file.
